Colorectal Cancer Screening Could Cut Costs Even as Treatment Costs Increase

A new study published online September 24 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has revealed that investing in some colorectal cancer screening programs could cut expensive treatment costs in half. The only screening program found not to be cost-saving was colonoscopy.

Governments and insurance companies may invest more in colorectal cancer screening programs—some of which have proven to reduce colorectal cancer mortality—if the cost-savings were known, especially as more expensive cancer drugs continue to hit the market.

Colorectal Cancer - Types, Causes, Risk Factors, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis & Prevention
Colorectal cancer is a cancer that starts in the colon or the rectum. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men.

Iris Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Ph.D., of the Department of Public Health, Eramus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and colleagues used a microsimulation model, known as the MISCAN-Colon model, to assess whether the increasing use of new, very costly drugs would affect treatment savings of colorectal cancer screening.

Researchers looked at annual guaiac fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), annual immunochemical FOBT, sigmoidoscopy every 5 years, colonoscopy every 10 years, and the combination of sigmoidoscopy every 5 years and annual guaiac FOBT in the general population for three chemotherapy treatment scenarios: the past, the present, and the near future.

The treatment savings from screening were more than twice as high in the near-future scenario, which included the widespread use of expensive new chemotherapies, than in the past scenario for all test strategies. This increase in savings makes screening with all strategies except colonoscopy cost-saving, according to the authors.

Colo-rectal Cancer - Management
Treatment for Colorectal Cancers may involve surgery,chemotherapy, radiation therapy or biological therapy. Some people require a combination of treatments.

"The increasingly costly management of colorectal cancer will approximately double the treatment savings from screening," the authors write. "…screening is not only desirable from the perspective of governments and insurance companies to reduce colorectal cancer incidence and mortality, but in addition will also help to contain the increasing costs for the management of colorectal cancer."

Colonoscopy Procedure
An animation of Colonoscopy that shows the appearance of large intestine or colon by using a thin and flexible viewing tube called the colonoscope.

Source-Eurekalert
RAS

Volvulus
A volvulus is surgical condition that results in a loop of the bowel twisting on itself. This can be a life-threatening condition due to the loss of blood supply and accumulation of toxic gases and fluids in the portion of the obstructed bowel segment.